Shipping interface for a user interface

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods which provide a shipping interface within a user interface are shown. A shipping interface of embodiments is provided within a open architecture or multiple application user interface, such as a browser user interface. A user may be enabled to use a same shipping account with respect to any number of applications or functions. Moreover, a user may be enabled to select a shipping provider of preference, even where the underlying application or function does not support the selected shipping provider or any shipping functions. Embodiments provide comparison of various shipping providers to a user for selection. Embodiments comprise a browser plug-in operable to provide a shipping interface, such a by inserting one or more shipping buttons within a page displayed by the browser, within a popup window, within a frame along the main browser window, within a browser menu bar, tool tray, etcetera.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to co-pending, commonly assigned U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/353,690 entitled “System and Method forValidating Postage,” filed Feb. 14, 2006, Ser. No. 10/991,241 entitled“System and Method for Generating Personalized Postage Indicia,” filedNov. 17, 2004, and Ser. No. 11/323,455 entitled “Hybrid Postage PrinterSystems and Methods,” filed Dec. 30, 2005, the disclosures of which arehereby incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates generally to the generation of shipping documentsand, more particularly, to providing a shipping interface for userinterfaces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The population, whether private individuals, businesses, governmentalentities, charitable organizations, etcetera, has many mailing andshipping (collectively referred to as shipping) needs. For example,persons may have a need to post documents, books, parcels, etcetera viaa postal service (e.g., the United States Postal Service (USPS)), anexpress courier service (e.g., Federal Express, DHL, or PurolatorCourier), a parcel service (e.g., United Parcel Service (UPS)), and/orthe like (collectively referred to as shipping services). Variousconsiderations, such as pickup and delivery times, cost, size and weightrestrictions, parcel content restrictions, etcetera may influence oreven dictate a person's selection of a particular shipping service.

Many solutions have been developed to facilitate a person's ability touse a shipping service. Recently, with the advent of computers, andtheir becoming nearly ubiquitous in many societies, sophisticatedautomated solutions have been developed to assist persons in variousaspects of a shipping task, including determining a proper cost forshipping, generating a shipping label, generating a shipping manifest,generating a postage indicia or other proof of payment for services,logging a shipment, tracking a shipment, etcetera. For example, on-linegeneration of postage indicia and associated services, includingshipping label generation, account management, and tracking, areprovided by systems of Stamps.com, Inc., the assignee of the presentapplication. On-line generation of a shipping label, includinginformation for billing the shipping services, and tracking are providedby systems of FedEx Express, Inc. Similarly, on-line generation of ashipping label, including information for billing the shipping services,and tracking are provided by systems of United Parcel Service ofAmerica, Inc. These have provided excellent stand-alone shippingsolutions, but typically have not addressed multiple shipping providercomparison and selection and have generally lacked integration withother applications.

There are a large number of persons wherein Internet or World Wide Webinteraction is the source of transactions requiring shipping. Forexample, an electronic mail (“e-mail”) message received through a webservice such as Hotmail™ or Yahoo!™ Mail may precipitate shipping adocument or parcel. Similarly, an electronic commerce (“e-commerce”)transaction, such as may be made through an Internet store or auctionsite, may precipitate shipping a parcel.

Although most web sites provide no interface to shipping applications,several web sites have begun to vertically integrate services and thushave provided an interface to one or more shipping applications. Forexample, the popular Internet auction site eBay™ includes buttons oncertain web pages to allow a user to select and initiate a shippingapplication for generating shipping labels, generating postage indicia,etcetera. For example, a user is allowed to select between the USPS andUPS for shipping an item after the conclusion of an eBay™ auction. Thesetwo shipping applications, however, are separate and do not provide anyform of shipping provider comparison. Moreover, the shipping accountsused with respect to these shipping applications are unique, such thateven if the user already has a shipping account with either or both ofthese shipping providers that account is not accessed. Where the userhas shipping accounts with other such Internet sites, the number ofaccounts becomes extremely difficult to manage.

A user with a shipping account for eBay™ and an online postage accountwith an Internet postage provider, for example, can not use the samepostage account on the back end for all their shipping labels unless theuser foregoes the shipping interface provided by eBay™ and insteadseparately uses the Internet postage provider's application directly.However, to use such a separate application, the user will be requiredto input any desired data, such as name, address, etcetera, otherwiseavailable from eBay™, or at least electronically cut and paste such datafrom the eBay™ site into an appropriate field in the separateapplication. Similarly, if a user receives shipping information viae-mail, with current shipping applications the user will be required toinput or copy and paste the information from the e-mail client into theshipping application.

Accordingly, there is a need for a wider variety of shipping solutions,and in particular shipping solutions which are not custom to everyInternet site. A further need exists for shipping solutions which allowa user to select a shipping provider of choice, regardless of aparticular Internet site precipitating the shipping event. A stillfurther need exists for a user to be enabled to readily use a sameshipping account with respect to shipping events precipitated fromdifferent Internet sites. A further need exists for information withrespect to the context of a shipment, such as an item shipped, to beautomatically obtained and/or saved in association with shipping accountinformation or other shipping application information.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to systems and methods which provide ashipping interface within a user interface. According to embodiments ofthe invention, a shipping interface is provided within a openarchitecture or multiple application user interface, such as a browseruser interface commonly used with respect to the Internet, intranets,extranets, and operating systems. A shipping interface of embodiments ofthe invention may be utilized to provide shipping functionality, such asdetermining proper costs for shipping, providing comparisons of variousshipping providers, generating shipping labels, generating shippingmanifests, generating postage indicia or other proof of payment forservices, logging shipments, tracking shipments, etcetera, with respectto any number of applications or functions, such as those associatedwith various Internet sites, e-mail clients, operating systems,etcetera.

In operation according to embodiments of the invention, a user isenabled to use a same shipping account with respect to any number ofapplications or functions. For example, a user is enabled to use a sameUSPS postal account with respect to shipments associated with differentvendors (e.g., eBay™, Amazon.com™, Yahoo!™) using a browser basedshipping interface of an embodiment of the present invention. Moreover,embodiments of the invention allow a user to select a shipping providerof preference (e.g., USPS, UPS, Federal Express, Purolator Courier, DHL,etcetera) even where the underlying web application or function does notsupport the selected shipping provider, whether directly or indirectly.The user may not only be enabled to select a preferred shippingprovider, but embodiments of the invention further provide comparison ofvarious shipping providers (e.g., rates, pickup schedules, deliveryschedules, services offered, etcetera) to a user for a more informedselection.

Embodiments of the invention comprise one or more browser plug-inoperable to provide a shipping interface. For example, plug-in code forproviding a shipping interface may be written in any suitableprogramming language (e.g., C++) capable of providing hooks and linksinto a desired standard browser user interface, such as InternetExplorer™ or Netscape™. Alternatively, plug-in code for providing ashipping interface may be written in a browser extension environment(e.g., Firefox™, Greasemonkey™, etcetera). Embodiments of the inventionutilize browser plug-ins which are themselves applications, such as Javaapplications or as may be provided through use of ActiveX controls.

Browser plug-ins of embodiments of the invention provide integrationbetween the browser user interface, and perhaps applications orfunctions operable therein, and one or more shipping application, suchas to extract relevant shipping information or other information from apage displayed by the browser and populate the appropriate fields withina shipping application for shipping functions. For example, a samebrowser plug-in may provide integration between the browser userinterface and a plurality of shipping applications, such as may beassociated with different shipping providers. Additionally oralternatively, a plurality of browser plug-ins may be utilized toprovide integration between the browser user interface and a pluralityshipping applications, such as where a particular browser plug-in isassociated with a particular shipping provider's shipping application.Similarly, a same browser plug-in may provide integration with respectto a plurality of applications (e.g., web applications) operable withinthe browser user interface or a plurality of browser plug-ins may beutilized to provide integration with respect to a plurality ofapplications, such as where a particular browser plug-in is associatedwith a particular application. Embodiments of the invention may directlyprovide shipping functionality by the browser plug-in, rather thanintegration with a separate shipping application, if desired.

The foregoing integration may be bidirectional, such as to inputinformation with respect to a shipping function having been initiated orcompleted to the browser or an application or function operable therein.Moreover, the integration may provide features in addition to shippingfunctions. For example, information with respect to the context of theshipment, such as the item shipped, a transaction underlying theshipment, etcetera, may be obtained and/or stored by embodiments of theinvention. According to embodiments of the invention, such shippingcontext information is provided to a shipping application for storage inassociation with shipping account and/or shipping record information.

A browser plug-in of embodiments of the invention operates to insert oneor more shipping buttons within a page displayed by the browser, such asnear address information or other information which may be associatedwith a shipping event. For example, the code of the browser plug-in mayoperate to parse information accessible to and/or displayed by thebrowser to identify information which may be associated with orotherwise precipitate a shipping event and thus cause one or moreshipping interface buttons to be displayed within the main browserwindow. Selection of such a shipping interface button may accessshipping features, such as rate calculation, provider comparison,shipping label generation, postage indicia generation, output of data toan application or web page, etcetera, such as through popup windows,dropdown menus, and/or the like.

One or more shipping buttons and/or shipping information may be providedby a browser plug-in of embodiments of the invention outside of the mainbrowser window, such as within a popup window, within a frame along theside, top, or bottom of the main browser window, etcetera. For example,the code of the browser plug-in may operate to parse informationaccessible to and/or displayed by the browser to identify informationwhich may be associated with or otherwise precipitate a shipping eventand thus cause a shipping interface frame to be displayed, such as maycomprise one or more shipping interface buttons, shipping information,etcetera. A user may interact with the shipping interface frame toaccess various shipping features.

Additionally or alternatively, one or more shipping buttons may beprovided by a browser plug-in of embodiments of the invention outside ofmain browser window by displaying such shipping buttons on a browsermenu bar, tool tray, or other unobtrusive area. For example, the code ofthe browser plug-in may operate to parse information accessible toand/or displayed by the browser to identify information which may beassociated with or otherwise precipitate a shipping event and thus causeone or more shipping interface buttons to be displayed on a browser menubar. A user may interact with the shipping interface button to accessvarious shipping features. Such browser interface buttons may be presenteven when information associated with or precipitating a shipping eventis not present, although the button may be inoperative (e.g., “grayedout”), operative to provide information, operative to provide manualshipping functions, operative to provide operation information,etcetera.

It should be appreciated from the foregoing that embodiments of theinvention facilitate shipping functionality in association with any of anumber of network sites, applications, and functions, includingautomated extraction and/or insertion of relevant data between suchsites, applications, and functions and shipping applications. Shippingfunctionality provided according to embodiments of the invention may beprovided even where shipping functionality is otherwise already provided(e.g., providing a shipping interface button in addition to a “ship it”button or other mailing service feature native to an Internet site beingvisited), such as to provide shipping provider choice, facilitate use ofa same account with different applications or sites, provide integratedshipping reports with respect to different shipping providers, differentunderlying applications, etcetera. Using a shipping interface ofembodiments of the invention, a user is enabled to use a same shippingaccount (e.g., USPS postage account) with respect to all shipping eventsacross multiple vendors' platforms.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technicaladvantages of the present invention in order that the detaileddescription of the invention that follows may be better understood.Additional features and advantages of the invention will be describedhereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. Itshould be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conceptionand specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or designing other structures for carrying out the samepurposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by thoseskilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic ofthe invention, both as to its organization and method of operation,together with further objects and advantages will be better understoodfrom the following description when considered in connection with theaccompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, thateach of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration anddescription only and is not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference isnow made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a high level functional block diagram of a system adaptedto provide a shipping user interface according to embodiments of theinvention;

FIG. 2 shows a computer system as may be utilized in providing theshipping user interface of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein a pagepresented by a browser user interface is modified to present a portionof a shipping user interface of the present invention;

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an embodiment of the present invention wherein framespresenting a portion of a shipping user interface of the presentinvention are displayed in association with a page presented by abrowser user interface; and

FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the present invention wherein a portion ofa shipping user interface is presented with respect to a browser userinterface.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Directing attention to FIG. 1, a high level functional block diagram ofa system adapted to provide a shipping interface within a user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention is shown.Specifically, host 100 of FIG. 1 comprises operating system 120, such asmay comprise Microsoft Windows™, Linux, Apple Mac OS™, Unix™, etcetera,controlling operation of one or more applications, such as shippingapplications 131-132 and general purpose applications 141-142, on host100. Host 100 of the illustrated embodiment is coupled to network 150,such as may comprise a telephone network (e.g., the public switchedtelephone network (PSTN)), a local area network (LAN), a metropolitanarea network (MAN), a wide-area network (WAN), an intranet, an extranet,the Internet, and/or the like, to interact with systems, applications,and data disposed on the network.

Shipping applications 131-133 may comprise any number of applicationsadapted to facilitate shipping functionality, such as those shown anddescribed in the above reference patent applications entitled “Systemand Method for Validating Postage,” “System and Method for GeneratingPersonalized Postage Indicia,” and “Hybrid Postage Printer Systems andMethods.” It should be appreciated that, one or more of shippingapplications 131-133 may interact with various systems, applications,functions, databases, etcetera in providing shipping functions. Forexample, a shipping application may interact with postal server 152,disposed n network 150 in the illustrated embodiment, to request postageindicia, to debit a cost for shipping, to verify address information, toobtain postage value, etcetera.

Shipping applications utilized according to embodiments of the inventionmay be provided in various configurations. For example, shippingapplications 131-132 of the illustrated embodiment are hosted withinhost 100. In contrast, shipping application 133 of the illustratedembodiment is hosted by sever 151 disposed on network 150. Of course,embodiments of the invention may provide shipping interfaces withrespect to shipping applications having configurations different thanillustrated in FIG. 1, whether in addition to or in the alternative toshipping applications 131-133. For example, a shipping application forwhich a shipping interface is provided according to embodiments of theinvention may be operable within browser 110, such as in the form or anapplet executable within the browser environment. Such a shippingapplication may comprise an application operable through or within thebrowser environment, such as may comprise a Java application or as maybe provided through use of ActiveX controls.

General purpose applications 141-142 may comprise any number ofapplications providing desired functionality. For example, applications141-142 may comprise a word processor application, an accountingapplication, a database application, a communications application, aspreadsheet application, a graphics application, and/or the like.

According to preferred embodiments of the invention, browser 110comprises an open architecture user interface (e.g., Internet Explorer™or Netscape™) providing a user interface which may be utilized with aplurality of applications, functions, etcetera. For example, browser 110may be utilized to provide a user interface with respect to operatingsystem 120, general purpose application 142, and/or applicationsprovided by systems of network 150. Shipping plug-in 111, provided withrespect to browser 110, facilitates interaction between shippingapplications 131-133 and browser 110 and applications operable withrespect thereto. Browser 110 of the illustrated embodiment is operableupon host 100, such as may comprise a general purpose processor-basedsystem such as a personal computer or other general purpose computersystem.

It should be appreciated that, although a single shipping plug-in 111 isillustrated in FIG. 1, embodiments of the invention may provide aplurality of shipping plug-ins. For example, a plurality of shippingplug-ins associated with different shipping providers may be provided, aplurality of shipping plug-ins associated with different shippingservices may be provided, or a plurality of shipping plug-ins associatedwith different underlying applications (e.g., different web sites forwhich shipping services are to be provided), wherein each such shippingplug-in is specifically configured for an associated shipping provider,shipping service, underlying application, etcetera. Such a plurality ofshipping plug-ins may be installed to a single browser in order tofacilitate a user selecting between different shipping providers,different shipping services, different underlying applications,etcetera. Alternatively, a user may select one of the available shippingplug-ins for installation to a browser to facilitate shipping using aselected service provider, shipping service, underlying application,etcetera. Of course, embodiments of the invention may utilize a singleshipping plug-in to facilitate shipping using a plurality of shippingproviders, a plurality of shipping services, underlying applications,etcetera.

Directing attention to FIG. 2, computer system 200 as may be utilized ashost 100 of FIG. 1 is shown. Central processing unit (CPU) 201 iscoupled to system bus 202. The CPU 201 may be any general purpose CPU,such as an Intel Pentium™, Motorola Power PC™, or other processor (itbeing appreciated that the present invention is not restricted by thearchitecture of CPU 201 as long as CPU 201 supports the inventiveoperations as described herein). Bus 202 is coupled to random accessmemory (RAM) 203, which may comprise SRAM, DRAM, SDRAM, flash memory,and/or the like. ROM 204 is also coupled to bus 202, which may comprisePROM, EPROM, EEPROM, and/or the like. RAM 203 and ROM 204 hold user andsystem data and programs, such as browser 110, shipping plug-in 111,operating system 120, shipping applications 131-132, and general purposeapplications 141-142, as is well known in the art.

Bus 202 is also coupled to input/output (I/O) controller 205,communications adapter 211, user interface adapter 208, and displayadapter 209. I/O adapter 205 connects to storage devices 206, such asmay comprise one or more of a hard drive, a CD drive, a floppy diskdrive, a tape drive, to the computer system. I/O adapter 205 is alsoconnected to printer 214, which facilitates printing information such asdocuments, photographs, articles, meter stamps, etcetera, whereinprinter 214 may comprise a typical printer (e.g. dot matrix, laser,etcetera), a fax machine, a copy machine, a special purpose postageprinter, and/or the like. I/O adapter 205 may be coupled to additionalor alternative peripherals useful according to embodiments of theinvention, such as a postal scale, a secure postage value storage unitetcetera. Communications adapter 211 is adapted to couple computersystem 200 to network 212, such as may correspond to network 150 of FIG.1, which may comprise the PSTN, a LAN, a MAN, a WAN, an intranet, anextranet, the Internet, and/or the like. User interface adapter 208couples user input devices, such as keyboard 213, pointing device 207,and microphone 216, to the computer system 200. User interface adapter208 also provides output to a user, such as sound via speaker(s) 215.Display adapter 209 is driven by CPU 201 to control the display ondisplay device 210.

When implemented in software, elements of the present invention maycomprise code segments, operable upon a host such as computer system200, to define operation as described herein. The program or codesegments can be stored in a processor readable medium, such as anelectronic circuit, a semiconductor memory device, a ROM, a flashmemory, an erasable ROM (EROM), a floppy diskette, a compact diskCD-ROM, an optical disk, a hard disk, etcetera.

Shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments of the invention comprises browserplug-in code adapted to interface with appropriate aspects of browser110 to provide a shipping interface with respect thereto. Plug-in codeof shipping plug-in 111 may be written in a programming language, suchas C++, or a browser extension environment, such as Firefox™ orGreasemonkey™, for otherwise standard browser user interfaces, such asInternet Explorer™ or Netscape™. Shipping plug-in 111 may itselfcomprise an application, such as a Java application or as may beinterfaced with browser 110 through ActiveX controls or the like.Shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments provides integration between browser110, applications or functions operable with respect to browser 110(e.g., operating system 120, applications 141-142, and/or applicationsof network 150), and one or more of shipping applications 131-133.Additionally or alternatively, embodiments of shipping plug-in 111 mayitself provide various functions, such as to itself provide shippingapplication functionality.

In operation according to preferred embodiments, shipping plug-in 111may operate with browser 110 to cooperate with appropriate ones ofoperating system 120, shipping applications 131-133, general purposeapplications 141-142, and/or network 150 to provide desired shippingfunctionality in association with any number of applications orfunctions, such as those associated with various Internet sites, e-mailclients, operating systems, etcetera. Such shipping functionality mayinclude determining proper costs for shipping, providing comparisons ofvarious shipping providers, generating shipping labels, generatingshipping manifests, obtaining or generating postage indicia or otherproof of payment for services, logging shipments, tracking shipments,and/or the like. Accordingly, shipping plug-in 111 may operate toextract relevant shipping information or other information from a pagedisplayed by browser 110 and populate the appropriate fields within anappropriate one of shipping applications 131-133 for shipping functions.Additionally information with respect to the context of the shipment,such as the item shipped, a transaction underlying the shipment,etcetera, may be extracted by shipping plug-in 111 for providing to anappropriate one of shipping applications 131-133, such as for storage inassociation with shipping account and/or shipping record information.

Integration provided by shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments with respectto applications or functions operable with respect to browser 110 may bebidirectional. For example, shipping plug-in 111 may operate to provideinformation to an appropriate one of operating system 120, generalpurpose applications 141-142, and/or network 150. As but one example,shipping plug-in 111 may provide input of information to an applicationfor which a shipping service was provided to indicate to thatapplication that the shipping function has been initiated or completed.

Shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments may operate to provide a shippinginterface with respect to browser 110 in various ways. For example,shipping plug-in 111 may operate to parse web pages displayed by browser110, whether automatically or in response to user control, to identifyinformation which may precipitate a shipping event, to obtain shippinginformation, to input shipping information, etcetera. In parsing a webpage, embodiments of the invention may operate to recognize datapresented in a typical address format, to identify information appearingto be a zip code and analyze nearby information to identify an address,to identify a transaction likely to be associated with a shipment, toidentify shipping instructions or features appearing in a web page,etcetera. Additionally or alternatively, shipping plug-in 111 mayoperate to alter web pages displayed by browser 110 to provide aspectsof a shipping functionality user interface therein. Accordingly,shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments of the invention operates to insertone or more shipping buttons within a page displayed by browser 110.Additionally or alternatively, one or more shipping buttons and/orshipping information may be provided by shipping plug-in 111 ofembodiments of the invention outside of the main browser window, such aswithin a frame along the side, top, or bottom of the main browserwindow.

Directing attention to FIG. 3, a browser screen comprising a portion ofan Internet auction site web page as may be displayed by browser 110 isshown. Web page 300 of the illustrated embodiment includes information310 which is indicative of a shipping event possibly being associatedwith the information on web page 300. In the illustrated embodiment,information 310 comprises shipping information in a recognizable form,facilitating shipping plug-in 111 parsing information of web page 300 toidentify information 310, and thus recognize the possibility of ashipping event. Of course, information in addition to or in thealternative to such shipping information may be used to identify thepossibility of a shipping event. For example, information 311 stating“shipping,” may be utilized by shipping plug-in 111 to recognize thepossibility of a shipping event. Similarly, the inclusion of nativeshipping button 320 may be utilized by shipping plug-in 111 to recognizethe possibility of a shipping event being associated with web page 300.

It should be appreciated that shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments mayinclude algorithms to recognize possible shipping events and/or shippinginformation in association with a page displayed by browser 110 throughanalyzing the data to identify particular types of information, such asshipping information. Additionally or alternatively, shipping plug-in111 of embodiments may include algorithms to recognize possible shippingevents and/or shipping information in association with a page displayedby browser 110 through a knowledge base of various web pages, web pagestructures, etcetera. For example, shipping plug-in 111 may utilize aknowledge base to recognize information associated with a shippingprovider (e.g., link to a shipping provider, button for selecting ashipping provider's services, etcetera), and thus conclude that possibleshipping events and/or shipping information is associated with a pagedisplayed by browser 110. Additionally or alternatively, shippingplug-in 111 may identify a particular source of a page, such as by auniform resource locator (URL), and access a knowledge base havinginformation with respect to where/how shipping information is presentedby that source. According to embodiments of the invention, scripts maybe provide with respect to various web pages and/or applications knownto precipitate shipping events tailored to recognize shipping datatherein. Such scripts may be updated, supplemented, added, etcetera fromtime to time, as desired.

Web pages or other information displayed by browser 110 may include morethan one set of information indicative of a shipping event. For example,a plurality of addresses may appear in web page 300. Shipping plug-in111 of embodiments of the invention may operate to identify each suchoccurrence of information possibly associated with a shipping event,whether to provide shipping features with respect to each occurrence ofsuch information or to provide further processing to determine a subsetof the information sets to provide shipping features with respect to(e.g., based upon context within the web page, based upon locationwithin the web page, etcetera).

Irrespective of how shipping plug-in 111 recognized the possibility of ashipping event being associated with web page 300, shipping plug-in 111of the illustrated embodiment operated to alter web page 300 as servedup by a source thereof in order to provide a shipping user interfaceaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. In particular,shipping plug-in 111 caused shipping function buttons 330 and 340 to bepresented in a main window portion of web page 300. Shipping functionbuttons 330 and 340 of the illustrated embodiment provide shippingfunctions in addition to the shipping functions native to web page 300(i.e., native shipping button 320 providing a “ship it” control) or addshipping functions to a web page where no shipping functions are nativethereto. In addition to or in the alternative to shipping functionbuttons, embodiments of shipping plug-in 111 may provide shippinginformation or other alterations within the main window of web page 300useful in providing shipping features according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

In the illustrated embodiment, shipping function buttons 330 and 340 arepresented near information in web page 300 recognized as possiblyassociated with a shipping event (e.g., information 310 and/or nativeshipping button 320) to provide a convenient, intuitive, and/oresthetically pleasing shipping interface. Of course, shipping functionbuttons and/or other shipping user interface components may be disposedelsewhere within web page 300, if desired. Where multiple sets ofinformation possibly associated with a shipping event are present in webpage 300, shipping plug-in 111 may operate to dispose shipping functionbuttons near each occurrence of information in web page 300 recognizedas possibly associated with a shipping event. Alternatively, shippingplug-in 111 may operate to provide one or more sets of shipping functionbuttons which are associated with a plurality of sets of informationrecognized as possibly associated with a shipping event.

Shipping function buttons 330 and 340 may be selected by a user toaccess various shipping features not otherwise available with respect toweb page 300. For example, shipping function button 340 may provideaccess to comparison information with respect to various shippingservice providers, such as rates, pickup schedules, delivery schedules,services offered, etcetera through interaction with shippingapplications 131-133 and/or a shipping comparison application (e.g., asmay be disposed on network 150), to facilitate a user making a moreinformed selection of a shipping service provider. Shipping functionbutton 330 may provide access to shipping features, such as ratecalculation, provider comparison, shipping label generation, postageindicia generation, output of data to an application or web page,etcetera through interaction with one or more of shipping applications131-133, to facilitate a user utilizing a shipping service provider nototherwise available through native shipping button 320 and/or utilizinga same shipping account with respect to shipping events precipitatedfrom different sources.

It should be appreciated that selection of shipping function buttons 330and 340 may operate to provide additional options and/or information toa user, such as through dialog boxes, popup windows, dropdown menus,addition of one or more frames to web page 300, and/or the like. Forexample, selection of shipping function button 340 may cause a dialogbox to open which shows various shipping service providers, such asthose corresponding to shipping applications 131-133, and theirassociated information for comparison. This dialog box may provideadditional shipping function buttons, such as to allow a user to obtainfurther information, to select particular shipping features, to inputshipping information not present or otherwise not obtained from web page300, to select a desired shipping service provider and access acorresponding one of shipping applications 131-133 for further shippingservice processing, and/or the like. Selection of shipping functionbutton 330 may cause a dialog box to open which allows editing ofshipping information obtained from web page 300, input of shippinginformation not present or otherwise obtained from web page 300, accessto a corresponding one of shipping applications 131-133 for furthershipping service processing, and/or the like.

In operation according to a preferred embodiment, a user utilizingshipping function buttons 330 and/or 340 is enabled to ultimatelynavigate to a point to generate shipping documentation, such as postageindicia, packing slip, a shipping label, a shipping manifest, a shipmentlog, etcetera through operation of an appropriate one of shippingapplications 131-133. Such operation may include debiting an account forthe cost of the shipping services, such as to deduct an amount ofpostage from a secure postage value user account, such as may be storedin a secure postage value storage unit (e.g., a cryptographic memoryunit, electronic postage metering system, etcetera).

Directing attention to FIGS. 4 and 5, a browser screen wherein shippingplug-in 111 has operated to provide shipping function buttons and/orother information outside of the main browser window. Specifically, FIG.4, wherein web page 400 comprises a company information page in theillustrated embodiment, shows a shipping frame added along the side ofweb page 400 to provide shipping function buttons and/or otherinformation in association with web page 400. FIG. 5, wherein web page500 comprises an Internet auction site page in the illustratedembodiment, shows a shipping frame added along the bottom of web page500 to provide shipping function buttons and/or other information inassociation with web page 500.

Referring now to FIG. 4, web page 400 of the illustrated embodimentincludes information 410 which is indicative of a shipping eventpossibly being associated with the information on web page 400. In theillustrated embodiment, information 410 comprises shipping informationin a recognizable form, facilitating shipping plug-in 111 parsinginformation of web page 400 to identify information 410, and thusrecognize the possibility of a shipping event. However, as discussedwith respect to the embodiment of FIG. 3 above, information in additionto or in the alternative to such shipping information may be used toidentify the possibility of a shipping event.

As web pages or other information displayed by browser 110 may includemore than one set of information indicative of a shipping event,shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments of the invention operates toidentify each such occurrence of information possibly associated with ashipping event. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, because asingle set of shipping function buttons and/or other information isprovided by shipping plug-in 111 for all information indicative of ashipping event within web page 400, shipping information 450 is providedwith an identifier (shown here as the numeral “1”) for distinguishingthis set of shipping information from other sets of shipping information(not shown) which may be associated with web page 400. Although theillustrated embodiment of shipping plug-in 111 provides shippinginformation and/or shipping function buttons outside of a main window ofweb page 400, shipping plug-in 111 of embodiments may additionallyoperate to alter web page 400 as served up by a source thereof in orderto provide a shipping user interface according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. In particular, shipping plug-in 111 of theillustrated embodiment caused an identifier (shown here as the numeral“1”) to be disposed next to information 410. Such information may bedesirable for use in identifying the source of shipping information orotherwise for facilitating shipping features of embodiments of theinvention.

Irrespective of how shipping plug-in 111 recognized the possibility of ashipping event being associated with web page 400 and the number of setsof information identified, shipping plug-in 111 of the illustratedembodiment operated to present a shipping user interface in associationwith web page 400 according to an embodiment of the present invention.In particular, shipping plug-in 111 caused frame 401, including shippingfunction buttons 430 and 440, shipping information 450, and perhapsadditional shipping function buttons, information, and/or features, tobe presented along side a main window portion of web page 400. Shippinginformation 450 of the illustrated embodiment displays informationidentified within web page 400 which may precipitate a shipping event.According to embodiments, this shipping information may be edited (e.g.,to add a title, such as Mr., Ms., etcetera, to correct information, toadd information, etcetera). Shipping function buttons 430 and 440 of theillustrated embodiment provide shipping functions in addition toshipping functions native to web page 400 or add shipping functions toweb page 400 where no shipping functions are native thereto. Variousshipping features, such as review shipping account, track shipments,input/edit shipping information, etcetera, may additionally oralternatively be provided by shipping plug-in 111 in frame 401.

As with shipping function buttons 330 and 340 discussed above withrespect to the embodiment of FIG. 3, shipping function buttons 430 and440 may be selected by a user to access various shipping features nototherwise available with respect to web page 400. For example, shippingfunction buttons 430 and 440 may provide access to shipping features,such as rate calculation, provider comparison, shipping labelgeneration, postage indicia generation, output of data to an applicationor web page, etcetera through interaction with an associated one ofshipping applications 131-133, to facilitate a user utilizing a shippingservice provider not otherwise available through shipping featuresnative to web page 400 and/or utilizing a same shipping account withrespect to shipping events precipitated from different sources. Itshould be appreciated that shipping function buttons 430 and 440 providea user with the ability to directly select between a plurality ofshipping service providers. Additionally or alternatively, one or moreshipping features may be provided, such as a shipping function button,to provide access to comparison information with respect to variousshipping service providers, such as rates, pickup schedules, deliveryschedules, services offered, etcetera through interaction with shippingapplications 131-133 and/or a shipping comparison application (e.g., asmay be disposed on network 150), to facilitate a user making a moreinformed selection of a shipping service provider.

As with shipping function buttons 330 and 340, selection of shippingfunction buttons 430 and 440 may operate to provide additional optionsand/or information to a user, such as through dialog boxes, popupwindows, dropdown menus, addition of one or more additional frames toweb page 400, and/or the like. In operation according to a preferredembodiment, a user utilizing shipping function buttons 430 and/or 440 isenabled to ultimately navigate to a point to generate shippingdocumentation, such as postage indicia, packing slip, a shipping label,a shipping manifest, a shipment log, etcetera through operation of anappropriate one of shipping applications 131-133. Such operation mayinclude debiting an account for the cost of the shipping services, suchas to deduct an amount of postage from a secure postage value useraccount.

Referring now to FIG. 5, an embodiment similar to that of FIG. 4 isshown, although the shipping frame added to provide shipping functionbuttons and/or other information in association with web page 500 isadded along the bottom of web page 500. As with web page 400 discussedabove, web page 500 of the illustrated embodiment includes information510 which is indicative of a shipping event possibly being associatedwith the information on web page 500. In the embodiment illustrated inFIG. 5, because a single set of shipping function buttons and/or otherinformation is provided by shipping plug-in 111 for all informationindicative of a shipping event within web page 500, shipping information550 is provided with an identifier (shown here as the numeral “1”) fordistinguishing this set of shipping information from other sets ofshipping information (not shown) which may be associated with web page500. In operation, having recognized the possibility of one or moreshipping events being associated with web page 500, shipping plug-in 111of the embodiment of FIG. 5 presents a shipping user interface inassociation with web page 500 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. In particular, shipping plug-in 111 caused frame 501,shipping information 550, and perhaps additional information, shippingfunction buttons, and/or features, to be presented below a main windowportion of web page 500.

As with the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4 discussed above, a user mayinteract with shipping function buttons or other features presented bythe shipping interface associated with frame 501 to provide additionaloptions and/or information to a user, such as through dialog boxes,popup windows, dropdown menus, addition of one or more additional framesto web page 500, and/or the like. In operation according to a preferredembodiment, a user is enabled to ultimately navigate to a point togenerate shipping documentation, such as postage indicia, packing slip,a shipping label, a shipping manifest, a shipment log, etcetera throughoperation of an appropriate one of shipping applications 131-133. Suchoperation may include debiting an account for the cost of the shippingservices, such as to deduct an amount of postage from a secure postagevalue user account.

Directing attention to FIG. 6, a browser screen wherein shipping plug-in111 has operated to provide shipping function buttons and/or otherinformation outside of the main browser window. Specifically, FIG. 6,wherein web page 600 comprises a company information page in theillustrated embodiment, shows a shipping function button providedoutside of main browser window by displaying the shipping button on abrowser menu bar. Additionally or alternatively, such shipping functionbuttons and/or other information may be provided unobtrusively withrespect to the browser user interface by displaying such shippingfeatures in a tool tray, a frame header, etcetera.

Web page 600 of the illustrated embodiment includes information 610which is indicative of a shipping event possibly being associated withthe information on web page 600. In the illustrated embodiment,information 610 comprises shipping information in a recognizable form,facilitating shipping plug-in 111 parsing information of web page 600 toidentify information 610, and thus recognize the possibility of ashipping event. However, as discussed with respect to the embodiment ofFIG. 3 above, information in addition to or in the alternative to suchshipping information may be used to identify the possibility of ashipping event.

Irrespective of how shipping plug-in 111 recognized the possibility of ashipping event being associated with web page 600, shipping plug-in 111of the illustrated embodiment operated to present a shipping userinterface in association with web page 600 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. In particular, shipping plug-in 111 of theillustrated embodiment provides one or more shipping function button(e.g., a plurality of shipping buttons associated with differentshipping providers, a plurality of shipping buttons associated withdifferent shipping services, one shipping button associated withmultiple shipping providers, etcetera), shown here as shipping functionbutton 630, for processing shipping functions with respect toinformation 610. For example, shipping function button 630 maycontinually be present upon the browser menu bar after installation ofshipping plug-in 111, although perhaps being inactive (e.g., “grayedout”). Upon shipping plug-in 111 recognizing information within web page600 which may be associated with a shipping event, shipping plug-in 111may cause shipping function button 630 to become active (e.g., no longer“grayed out”) within the browser menu bar. Alternatively, upon shippingplug-in 111 recognizing information within web page 600 which may beassociated with a shipping event, shipping plug-in 111 may causeadditional features available using shipping function button 630 tobecome available (e.g., features for shipping items to an address ofinformation 610), perhaps in addition to or in the alternative tofeatures otherwise available using shipping function button 630 (e.g.,review shipping account, track shipments, input/edit shippinginformation, etcetera).

Shipping function button 630 may be selected by a user to access variousshipping features not otherwise available with respect to web page 600.For example, selection of shipping function button 630 may operate toprovide additional options and/or information to a user, such as throughdialog boxes, popup windows, dropdown menus, addition of one or moreadditional frames to web page 600, and/or the like. In the illustratedembodiment, selection of shipping function button 630 causes dialog box631 to open, presenting additional information, shipping functionbuttons, and/or shipping features to a user. For example, shippingfunction button 640 may provide access to comparison information withrespect to various shipping service providers (e.g., service providersselected at shipping feature checkboxes 660), such as rates, pickupschedules, delivery schedules, services offered, etcetera throughinteraction with shipping applications 131-133 and/or a shippingcomparison application (e.g., as may be disposed on network 150), tofacilitate a user making a more informed selection of a shipping serviceprovider. Shipping feature checkboxes 660 may allow a user to select aplurality of service providers for comparison, select a service providerto provide shipping services, etcetera. Shipping function button 670provides a navigation function to facilitate advancing to a next page ofdialog box 631, such as to present one or more shipping functionbuttons, shipping information, and/or shipping features providing accessto shipping features, such as rate calculation, provider comparison,shipping label generation, postage indicia generation, output of data toan application or web page, etcetera through interaction with one ormore of shipping applications 131-133, to facilitate a user utilizing ashipping service provider not otherwise available through web page 600.

In operation according to a preferred embodiment, a user utilizingshipping function button 630 is enabled to ultimately navigate to apoint to generate shipping documentation, such as postage indicia,packing slip, a shipping label, a shipping manifest, a shipment log,etcetera through operation of an appropriate one of shippingapplications 131-133. Such operation may include debiting an account forthe cost of the shipping services, such as to deduct an amount ofpostage from a secure postage value user account.

It should be appreciated that, although discussed with reference to webpages, the embodiments described above with respect to FIGS. 3-6 may beutilized to facilitate shipping functionality in association with any ofa number of network sites, applications, and functions. Moreover,embodiments of the present invention may not only obtain informationfrom such network sites, applications, and/or functions, but they mayalso facilitate outputting or insertion of relevant data to such sites,applications, and functions. For example, a shipping plug-in of anembodiment of the invention may operate to cause a “shipped” flag to beset, which is perhaps provided by a web page for noting shipment havingbeen made outside of shipping functionality provided by the web page,such as through a macro manipulating an otherwise manual user interface.

Shipping functionality provided according to the embodiments of FIGS.3-6 may be provided even where shipping functionality is otherwisealready provided (e.g., providing a shipping interface button inaddition to a “ship it” button or other mailing service feature nativeto an Internet site being visited), such as to provide shipping providerchoice, facilitate use of a same account with different applications orsites, etcetera. In operation according to the embodiments of FIGS. 3-6,a user is enabled to use a same shipping account with respect to anynumber of applications or functions. For example, a user is enabled touse a same USPS postal account with respect to shipments associated withdifferent vendors (e.g., eBay™, Amazon.com™, Yahoo!™). Moreover, a usermay select a shipping provider of preference (e.g., USPS, UPS, FederalExpress, Purolator Courier, DHL, etcetera) even where the underlyingapplication or function does not support the selected shipping provider,whether directly or indirectly.

It should be appreciated that shipping functionality provided accordingto embodiments of the present invention may provide features in additionto or in the alternative to identifying shipping information andfacilitating the generation of shipping documents. For example,embodiments of the invention may operate to provide a shipping historyor other information in association with information recognized aspossibly being associated with a shipping event. For example, whenaddress information for an entity a user has previously shipped an itemto (whether appearing in the same underlying web page or application, orappearing in a wholly different context), shipping information providedby a shipping plug-in of an embodiment of the present invention mayinclude a shipping history, tracking information, and/or the like.Additionally, embodiments of the invention may provide integratedshipping reports with respect to different shipping providers, differentunderlying applications, etcetera. For example, a shipping plug-in ofthe present invention which is utilized to provide shipping serviceswith respect to a plurality of shipping applications and/or a pluralityof web applications may be utilized to provide a consolidated report ofshipping activity. Similarly, a plurality of different shipping plug-insof the present invention which are utilized in the aggregate to provideshipping services with respect to a plurality of shipping applicationsand/or a plurality of web applications may interact, perhaps with alinked reporting module, to provide a consolidated report of shippingactivity.

Embodiments of the invention may be facilitated in recognizinginformation indicative of a shipping event through the use of flags,metadata, or other information available with respect to underlying webpages or applications. For example, a content provider may wish tofacilitate use of a shipping plug-in of embodiments of the invention andthus provide one or more flags in or with their content identifyinginformation useful with respect to shipping functions.

Moreover, embodiments of the invention operate to recognize informationin addition to information indicative of a shipping event beingassociated with an underlying web page or application. For example, ashipping plug-in of embodiments of the invention may parse informationto identify other information useful with respect to shipping functions,such as item size, item weight, package size, package weight, value ofitems, etcetera. This information may be utilized in automaticallypopulating shipping options according to embodiments of the invention.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, thescope of the present application is not intended to be limited to theparticular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, compositionof matter, means, methods and steps described in the specification. Asone of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from thedisclosure of the present invention, processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing orlater to be developed that perform substantially the same function orachieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodimentsdescribed herein may be utilized according to the present invention.Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within theirscope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter,means, methods, or steps.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: one or more browser plug-instored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, the one or morebrowser plug-in providing a shipping application user interface withrespect to a browser, the one or more browser plug-in being operable tointerface with at least one shipping application and to provide postageindicia generation with respect to a plurality of applicationsexecutable with respect to said browser, at least a portion of saidpostage indicia generation facilitated through interaction between saidone or more browser plug-in and said at least one shipping application,wherein said one or more browser plug-in is operable to recognizepossible shipping events associated with operation of an application ofsaid plurality of applications and display said shipping applicationuser interface presenting postage indicia generation function selectionto a user in response to recognizing a possible shipping event prior tosaid user having selected a shipping function within said application.2. The system of claim 1, wherein said postage indicia is generatedusing information obtained from a selected one of said plurality ofapplications by said one or more browser plug-in and provided to said atleast one shipping application.
 3. The system of claim 1, whereinoperation of the one or more browser plug-in further facilitates the useof a same shipping account with respect to shipping events associatedwith two or more applications of said plurality of applications.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein operation of the one or more browser plug-infurther allows selection between a plurality of shipping providers for ashipping event associated with a selected one of said plurality ofapplications.
 5. The system of claim 4, wherein operation of the one ormore browser plug-in further provides integrated reporting with respectto said plurality of shipping providers.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein operation of the one or more browser plug-in further obtainsshipping information by said browser plug-in from a selected one of saidplurality of applications.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein operationof the one or more browser plug-in further outputs information withrespect to a shipping event by said one or more browser plug-in to aselected one of said plurality of applications.
 8. The system of claim1, wherein operation of the one or more browser plug-in further providestracking information with respect to a shipping event associated with aselected one of said plurality of applications.
 9. The system of claim1, wherein operation of the one or more browser plug-in further providesshipping functions in addition to shipping functions of a selected oneof said plurality of applications.
 10. The system of claim 1, whereinoperation of the one or more browser plug-in further provides shippingfunctions where a selected one of said plurality of applications doesnot provide shipping functions.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein saidat least one shipping application comprises a personal computer basedpostage indicia generation application.
 12. The system of claim 1,wherein said at least one shipping application comprises an internetbased postage indicia generation application.
 13. The system of claim 1,wherein said at least one shipping application comprises a plurality ofshipping provider shipping applications.
 14. The system of claim 1,wherein said postage indicia generation function selection is displayedby said shipping application user interface within a page displayed bysaid browser.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein said postage indiciageneration function selection is displayed by said shipping applicationuser interface in a frame displayed by said browser.
 16. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said postage indicia generation function selection isdisplayed by said shipping application user interface in a dialog box.17. The system of claim 1, wherein said postage indicia generationfunction selection is displayed by said shipping application userinterface in a button added to a control area of said browser by saidbrowser plug-in.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least oneshipping application comprises an application independently executablefrom said browser.
 19. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least oneshipping application comprises an Internet based application.
 20. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said one or more browser plug-in comprises anapplication.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein said one or morebrowser plug-in application comprises one or more Java application. 22.The system of claim 20, wherein said one or more browser plug-inapplication is interfaced with said browser using ActiveX controls. 23.The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more browser plug-incomprises a plurality of browser plug-ins.
 24. The system of claim 23,wherein different browser plug-ins of said plurality of browser plug-insare associated with different shipping applications of said at least oneshipping application.
 25. The system of claim 23, wherein differentbrowser plug-ins of said plurality of browser plug-ins are associatedwith different applications of said plurality of applications.
 26. Thesystem of claim 23, wherein operation of the one or more browser plug-infurther provides integrated reporting with respect to said plurality ofbrowser plug-ins.
 27. A system comprising: a browser user interfaceoperable to provide an interface with respect to a plurality ofapplications; and one or more shipping plug-in stored on anon-transitory computer readable medium, the one or more shippingplug-in operable to integrate with said browser user interface andprovide shipping functions with respect to said plurality ofapplications, said one or more shipping plug-in including an algorithmoperable to recognize a possible shipping event in a page displayed by ahost browser in association with operation of a respective applicationof said plurality of applications and to display one or more shippingfunction selection in said host browser to a user in response torecognizing a possible shipping event and to control generation ofshipping documentation for said shipping event in response to a userselecting one of said one or more shipping function selection to therebyenable said user to control, from within said browser user interface,generation of shipping documentation not otherwise available throughoperation of said respective application of said plurality ofapplications.
 28. The system of claim 27, wherein said browser userinterface comprises an internet browser.
 29. The system of claim 27,wherein said respective application of said plurality of applicationscomprises an application hosted by a network server.
 30. The system ofclaim 27, wherein said respective application of said plurality ofapplications comprises a downloadable applet.
 31. The system of claim27, wherein said respective application of said plurality ofapplications comprises an application hosted by a same host as that ofsaid browser user interface.
 32. The system of claim 27, wherein saidone or more shipping plug-in comprises an application.
 33. The system ofclaim 32, wherein said one or more shipping plug-in applicationcomprises one or more Java application.
 34. The system of claim 32,wherein said one or more shipping plug-in application is integrated withsaid browser user interface using ActiveX controls.
 35. The system ofclaim 27, wherein said shipping functions comprise initiating postageindicia generation and said shipping documentation comprises a postageindicium.
 36. The system of claim 35, wherein said postage indiciageneration is provided by an independent shipping application.
 37. Thesystem of claim 35, wherein said postage indicia generation is providedby a postage server.
 38. The system of claim 35, wherein said postageindicia is generated using information from said respective applicationof said plurality of applications.
 39. The system of claim 27, whereinsaid shipping functions comprise facilitating use of a same shippingaccount with respect to shipping events associated with two or moreapplications of said plurality of applications.
 40. The system of claim27, wherein said shipping functions comprise allowing selection betweena plurality of shipping providers for a shipping event associated with aselected one of said plurality of applications.
 41. The system of claim27, wherein said shipping functions comprise obtaining shippinginformation from said respective application of said plurality ofapplications.
 42. The system of claim 27, wherein said shippingfunctions comprises outputting information with respect to a shippingevent to said respective application of said plurality of applications.43. The system of claim 27, wherein said shipping functions compriseproviding tracking information with respect to a shipping eventassociated with said respective application of said plurality ofapplications.
 44. The system of claim 27, wherein said providingshipping functions comprises providing shipping functions in addition toshipping functions of said respective application of said plurality ofapplications.
 45. The system of claim 27, wherein said providingshipping functions comprises providing shipping functions where saidrespective application of said plurality of applications does notprovide shipping functions.
 46. The system of claim 27, furthercomprising: at least one shipping application, said at least oneshipping application being separate from said plurality of applications,wherein said one or more shipping plug-in interfaces with said at leastone shipping application to provide at least a portion of said shippingfunctions.
 47. The system of claim 46, wherein said at least oneshipping application comprises a personal computer based postage indiciageneration application.
 48. The system of claim 46, wherein said atleast one shipping application comprises an internet based postageindicia generation application.
 49. The system of claim 46, wherein saidat least one shipping application comprises a plurality of shippingapplications.
 50. A method comprising: executing a browser plug-in upona browser operating on a host computer system; analyzing, by the browserplug-in, operation of an application of a plurality of applicationswithin the browser; identifying, by the browser plug-in, a possibleshipping event from the analyzing; displaying, prior to a user havingselected a shipping function within said application, at least oneshipping button by the browser as a function of the identifying apossible shipping event to thereby provide a user an option to invokealternative shipping functionality for the possible shipping event whichis not otherwise available through said application; and providingalternative shipping functionality from at least one shippingapplication as a function of manipulation of the at least one shippingbutton, the shipping application being independent of the plurality ofapplications operable within the browser and the alternative shippingfunctionality being provided instead of shipping functionality of saidapplication.
 51. The method of claim 50, wherein the plurality ofapplications comprise applications for a plurality of vendors providingtransactions which precipitate shipping events, and wherein the shippingapplication is not otherwise available for use with respect to theshipping events from the plurality of applications.
 52. The method ofclaim 50, wherein the at least one shipping application comprises aplurality of shipping applications, wherein the providing alternativeshipping functionality allows selection of shipping functionality fromany of the plurality of shipping applications in association with theplurality of applications operable upon the browser when a possibleshipping event is identified although the plurality of applicationsoperable within the browser do not otherwise support shippingfunctionality from each of the plurality of shipping applications. 53.The method of claim 50, wherein the identifying a possible shippingevent is provided without a user of the applications having invoked ashipping function of the applications.
 54. The method of claim 50,wherein the analyzing operation of an application of a plurality ofapplications and identifying a possible shipping event from theanalyzing comprises: parsing information of a web page displayed by thebrowser for information indicative of a shipping event.